Affordable, economical and attainable homes thanks to Longhurst & Havelok Homes

Imagine finding your dream home and having the choice of renting it at an affordable rate, purchasing a percentage of it and paying rent on the remaining part or renting it with the aim of buying it at a later date.

It sounds ideal but thanks to Registered Social Landlord, Longhurst & Havelok (L&H) Homes, this could be you. L&H Homes, Accent Nene Ltd and Peterborough City Council are working in partnership with Persimmon Homes, who are constructing a total of 200 affordable homes across six sites at Hampton Vale in south Peterborough, to supply a range of affordable housing.

The major urban extension south of Peterborough provides thousands of new homes of different tenures, sizes and styles as well as substantial retail and employment opportunities, a wide range of local facilities and accessible, inter-connected open spaces. The development site was built on brownfield land formerly used as a brick works site by London Brick.

As part of the partnership, L&H Homes will receive 106 properties from Persimmon Homes for affordable housing, including 30 ‘flexible tenure’ units which customers can choose to purchase under Shared Ownership, Rent to HomeBuy or rent under Intermediate Rent .

The flexible tenure was agreed with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Peterborough City Council as a response to the current housing market and to help local people access good quality, affordable housing.

Nick Worboys, Longhurst Group Head of Development, said: “I am delighted to be offering options that are flexible to people’s needs. This is excellent news for local people who are struggling to get on the housing ladder or rent a property.”

L&H’s properties will be one of the first in the area to achieve the energy efficiency requirements for Level Three of the Code for Sustainable Homes thanks to air source heat pumps. The pumps, located in rear gardens, are connected to conventional radiators, programmers and water cylinders inside each house and use highly efficient refrigeration technology to extract heat energy from the outside air and operate effectively at temperatures as low as -15C.

The system requires minimal maintenance and will heat hot water to 65C and radiators to 55C, providing all heating needs and achieving savings to both household fuel costs and carbon emissions. The highly-insulated timber frame construction will also minimise heat loss and ensure the homes are economical.

The scheme was part funded by a Social Housing Grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, a Government funding body for Registered Housing Providers (RHPs) that supports investment, regeneration and development of land in good urban and rural social housing developments like Hampton Vale in Peterborough.

The first phase of development which consists of 19 homes, including one, two, three and four bedroom houses, was completed in May 2009. The remaining properties are due to be completed by March 2010.

Over the next two years Longhurst & Havelok Homes will see their housing stock in Peterborough increase from just 8 to 170 units, including 42 units at South View in Peterborough by 2011.